


Fly Away With Me, Baby

by palmfairy1122



Series: with you until the end [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Drama, M/M, Romance, mild violence, post-apocalyptic world, use of guns, zombie apocalypse AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 07:56:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16471760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/palmfairy1122/pseuds/palmfairy1122
Summary: The end of the world had no room for romance. Only survival. Only trying to live day by day. Jihoon can't afford any kind of distraction with 12 other lives depending on him.





	Fly Away With Me, Baby

There was one time when Jihoon missed the simpler times of childhood, when his only kind of worries was what snack he was going to eat later, or which movie he was going to watch.

That was back when he was an idol, when he would race with time against deadlines set for him writing lyrics and producing songs, with lives of 12 and more people resting on his shoulders. When he would smile at the rest of the world with under 4 hours of sleep and less than 3 meals a day every day just to get by.

Now that Jihoon thought about it, now was not much different. Lives dependent on him. Less than 4 hours of sleep. Less than 3 meals a day.

It's even simpler now. He didn't even have to compose tracks. He only had to make sure he and his boys could survive another night.

They worked as they did before the outbreak with 3 units rotating between responsibilities every 4-5 hours: guard duty, salvaging/scouting duty, and the last unit would rest. They had been surviving for a month in this kind of system.

Just the 13 of them. Against the world.

Who would've thought that SEVENTEEN, a famous idol group before the world collapsed, would be one of the last people standing in the zombie apocalypse.

It's Jihoon's recurring dream the past nights, or days… or times when he's supposed to be sleeping: The image of their manager locking them inside the company basement after providing them with food that can last them a few days, making the three leaders promise that they would do anything to protect the lives of each other and the rest of their members.

The leaders looked at their manager skeptically, unsure of what brought about the older man's speech, but they had no time to clarify because their manager slammed the door shut in their faces then barred their door with something heavy (they learned later that it was the grand piano, the company's most treasured instrument) to keep them safe from the chaos of the outside.

It was this, the company's foreshadowing and prioritizing the lives of SEVENTEEN that saved the boys from the worst of it, from the first wave of the outbreak. The boys didn't see the first bouts of transformation firsthand, although they saw it in the news before they lost all power and electricity. The transformation took the people they used to know, and the people they loved, and although they were grateful they were spared, it had been difficult living with that strange burden of guilt being alive.

They realize late that it's more difficult because they would have to fight these same people just to stay alive. When they had to escape the building because they were running out of supplies, they were met with these people they used to know, people they loved, but these same people, undead, attacked them with open skins, gaping wounds and snapping jaws.

And they had to fight back to survive.

(It was Seungcheol, the bravest and strongest of them, who spared the rest of the boys the heartache, and took it upon himself to kill that same manager who saved their lives.)

13 people was too huge a group to survive the apocalypse with. But Jihoon won't have it any other way. He would give up his life before he would lose any one of his members. He wouldn't allow it.

Which was why he was wide awake while the rest of Vocal Team rested uneasily after their scouting work. They were trying to look for somewhere to move to. They tried to make a home out of a small convenience store that was a bit separated from the larger part of the city, and they made it work for a while, but the space was too cramp for the 13 of them and they knew they would have to move to a larger area one day.

The Vocal Team took east, their nimble and surprisingly experienced feet took them kilometers with quiet but sure steps, encountering only a small group of the undead that was almost too easy to take care of. They still found nowhere they could settle in after 3 hours, and now the Performance Team took their duty while they rested, and the Hiphop Team took watch.

Jihoon sat up and leaned on the wall beside him while he looked at the members of his unit. Although they were exhausted from their mission, all of them had a hard time falling asleep on and under the bundle of stolen jackets and torn blankets one can hardly call a bed or mattress.

Jeonghan and Joshua always took it upon themselves to keep the atmosphere of the unit light, a duty that was Seungkwan and Seokmin's before, but something about the end of the world took the light out of the younger members. The older members, although were strict about their rations and duties, always made sure that the younger ones didn't forget about hope and love and light.

All the things that made it worth living.

Joshua tried singing a familiar tune when the unit collapsed on the floor of the convenience store earlier. It brought back memories of the stage and screaming fans with lightsticks that looked like the ocean of stars. The memory was nice and warm, and it helped calm down the nerves of the two younger boys, now asleep in the arms of the older two.

Maybe it calmed Jihoon down, too, because he didn't snap at Joshua anymore. Like he did the first times when someone else tried singing in his presence.

If there was anyone who took a huge toll on the end of the world, it was Jihoon. He was the one who lead the team to the police station, lead the group to fight the zombies while the others went to get some weapons. He had to thank his stars that he was a massive nerd as well as a fan of action movies that he just knew what they needed in this kind of universe.

It was their first big fight, though. Their previous strategy was just to run whenever they encountered the undead, but as time passed, Jihoon knew they can't keep running away forever. They would have to fight.

Sure, they had some fights before, but Seungcheol's axe can only reach so much and the mic stands they used had been bending the wrong directions. They had have fights but they always fought to defend. Jihoon knew they had to fight to attack.

The fight almost costed them Junhui, that selfless bastard who guarded the door and told everyone to escape when they got overran. Jun stood with his broken baseball bat, ready to face his end, and the rest of the team was too shaken up to run or hide or help him.

_BANG!_

That got the attention of the zombies from Junhui. But now their eyes were trained on Jihoon, who shot a gun against another human for the first time in his life.

Not human, Jihoon forced himself to think. These are monsters now. If Jihoon won't kill them, they would go after his boys, and Jihoon will never let that happen.

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG

In his haze of anger and overprotection, Jihoon realized too late that it was a bad call. It got the attention of a hoard of those monsters passing by, their stench and groaning signaling their approach even before they got near.

Jeonghan held Jihoon, his eyes burning with passion and Jihoon understood. Jihoon took one look at Seungcheol and Soonyoung, passing the command. Seungcheol's face crashed, but he took as many weapons as he could and lead the Hiphop team away (not without complaints from Wonwoo especially), but not before taking one last look at Jeonghan.

Jeonghan did not spare him a glance.

The Vocal Team, Jihoon was so proud of them, had the most members, two of which were the eldest of the group. And they stood their ground. With Jihoon's instructions, in a few minutes they were armed, shooting down as much of those monsters as they could as the other two units made their escape.

Jihoon tried to think that he was hallucinating Soonyoung's voice screaming his name, but when he looked back, he could see Chan dragging Soonyoung away, while Minghao was assisting a limping Junhui.

The Vocal Team lead the hoard away from where the rest of the members were running to, Jeonghan, even though the fastest of the group, staying at their tail to shoot some stray zombies that came too near their bee line while Joshua took the lead.

Jihoon didn't know how long they ran or how they did it, but one way or another, they lost the hoard and whole team still found themselves together. They knew they can't stay long in the middle of the city, so they had to take a car and drive away.

Performance Team was supposed to scout, but Jun…

Jun broke an arm and an ankle. Someone, Jihoon was not sure which one of them, tried to patch him up, but even though they knew basic first aid from all the times they themselves were sprained and strained, none that prepared them for this.

Jun was never going to be able to dance again.

Because of Jihoon.

Because Jihoon was proud and thought of himself as strong. Because he lead the team to a slaughterhouse where he can't even defend them.

That's when Seungkwan tried to cheer the group up by trying to sing their old songs, but Jihoon screamed at the younger boy. Screamed at everyone that this is the world they're going to live in. There is little chance that all of them would survive the next days, but Jihoon would like to keep them alive for as long as he could.

But please, _please_. No more songs.

The Vocal Unit knew. Somehow, the other leaders knew, too.

That even though Lee Jihoon was alive and well and would be willing to go through hell to protect the only family he had left, when the world ended, it took Woozi with them.

Woozi was dead.

It was only practical, Jihoon thought, that he buried the persona of the singer-song-writer-producer. There was no use for him in this broken world. No use for song and music when the purpose of every day was to try to survive.

"Jihoon hyung? Are you awake?"

The voice was so quiet, almost afraid, that Jihoon wanted to apologize over and over again.

"Channie?" Jihoon tried to soften his voice. He really did, but it still came out rough and almost stern that it hurt his heart when he saw Chan jump.

Their youngest lost the sureness in his posture when the world ended. His smile a little duller every day. His voice a little more cracked. His eyes a little more frightened.

Jihoon hated himself for making Chan even more afraid of being alive.

He offered a hand to Chan, who, after a beat of hesitation, took it. Jihoon pulled him into an embrace even though he never liked holding anyone before. It was something he had to thank the end of the world for. He was learning to treat every single day like it was his last, so he cherished all moments even more. He was learning to be more open to his members, tried to hold them longer, tried to smile more.

He had to. As leader. As Jihoon, he had to. Now with Woozi gone.

Chan melted into his arms, breathing shakily.

"I'm sorry," Chan said, short of a sob. The boy was frail that his jacket hung too loosely around him. Even though they were surrounded by food, none of them could eat properly, when every single day they kept killing to survive.

Maybe they would learn to get used to that. Maybe when they do, Chan can build his body back. For now, Jihoon held their youngest close to his chest.

"What for?" he asked.

"Soonyoung hyung…"

Jihoon tensed. His mind went blank as a million of things drowned his consciousness he couldn't almost hear what Chan was saying.

"I couldn't stop him…

He was surrounded…

Reaching for…

He didn't…

I told him you'd hate him forever…

Doesn't listen…

I'm sorry, hyung. I was…

Please don't hate me. _Please._ "

It was Chan's tears that cleared Jihoon's head again. The poor boy was shaking in Jihoon's arms, so unlike the confident performer that the rest of Seventeen raised.

Jihoon couldn't say anything yet. He didn't trust himself enough not to yell at Chan if anything happened to Soonyoung. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. Calm enough to say at least a few words without lashing out. "Chan," Jihoon called the boy from his hiding on Jihoon's chest. He surprised even himself at the softness of his voice. "Where?"

Chan gulped. "We went back to Pledis."

The calm escaped Jihoon so quickly he saw red in his vision.

" _What?_ "

"Soonyoung hyung wanted to- Jihoon-hyung!"

Pledis wasn't the center of the outbreak, but the company building was attacked right after the boys made their escape. Lucky, Jeonghan joked when they circled back and found the building infested by the undead.

Lucky, indeed.

Jihoon was sure they won't be lucky the second time.

Soonyoung was in one piece when Jihoon found him talking to Seungcheol near the riverbank. Jihoon forced himself not to breathe too loudly in relief. But one glance at him and Seungcheol shook his head and left the two of them to talk.

The river was calm, and it provided for a good protective barrier for when there's an attack, since it slowed the zombies down. There had been no attacks recently, and the sun was setting down, casting golden strips of light falling over them.

It's almost annoying how unbothered the rest of the universe was while the world was falling apart.

It's as annoying as Soonyoung who was waiting for Jihoon to talk.

"Soonyoung, what the fu-"

"I see you're relieved to see me alive."

"That's not the point."

Soonyoung grinned.

Jihoon hated him. Jihoon hated that Soonyoung had managed to keep this persona up, this happy-go-lucky, spirited, hopeful, optimistic hamster personality even after the end of the world. Jihoon hated that he maintained himself, and as a result kept the group together. (For that, Jihoon was grateful, but that didn't make him hate Soonyoung less.) Jihoon hated that Soonyoung could still rile him up even after all this time.

Jihoon hated that he was still so in love with him.

The end of the world had no room for romance. Only survival. Only trying to live day by day. Jihoon can't afford this distraction with 12 other lives depending on him.

(That much as evident with the tension that surrounded the three eldest members who refused to talk, too. They had the younger members looking up to them for strength and assurance. They had no time for romance.)

"Chan told me," Jihoon said.

Soonyoung let his eyes grow big in mock surprise. "He told you? Am I in trouble?"

"Why did you go back?"

Soonyoung didn't even miss a beat. "I came to see if CEO went to visit," he shrugged. "Didn't see him. Which was okay, too. I didn’t want to kill my boss anyway."

Jihoon wasn't impressed. "You know why we didn't want to scout the building anymore. That place was surrounded by zombies the last time-"

"Not as much now, though," Soonyoung told him. "We could post a look out for the building. Maybe we can relocate there in a few days."

Jihoon shook his head. "Bad idea. It's filled with memories of the first wave when we had to-"

The words were stuck in his throat by Soonyoung understood.

When they had to fight the first time. When they were so afraid of the world, but had to fight their way out of the building to survive. When they took their first kills with the lives of the people they used to know. People they used to love.

There was no way he was going to force the members to live in that nightmare. Which was why he had to ask again…

"Why did you go back, Soonyoung?"

Jihoon noticed the new wounds and bruises Soonyoung had on his arms. They always made sure on scouting duty they wore some kind of armor that was thick enough that could withstand bites, but were light enough that won't hinder their movements. Whatever reason Soonyoung had to go back, he had to fight through it.

Soonyoung took a step sideways to show Jihoon what he'd been hiding behind him.

The bag rested on the floor of ankle-high grass that Jihoon didn't see it the first time, but now that he was looking at it, it almost made him weak in the knees.

Soonyoung, bent over to unzip its bag carefully and quietly, following Jihoon's reaction. Jihoon didn't make a move to help him, unsure if what he's seeing is real. Soonyoung took it out and let it rest on top of its bag before standing beside Jihoon again.

Jihoon was hit with a wave of nostalgia.

So bad actually, that he had to punch Soonyoung.

Soonyoung did a good job of holding himself from shouting considering that Jihoon's knuckles throbbed in pain after the contact.

"What. On. Earth. Were. You. Thinking?"

Soonyoung. That stupid man. Went back to the company building to retrieve Jihoon's guitar.

"I just thought that maybe we need some music to get by," Soonyoung said matter-of-factly, rubbing the spot on his arm where Jihoon hit him. Jihoon felt no guilt whatsoever. That dumbass deserved it. "I do miss singing and dancing to your songs."

Jihoon walked towards the guitar slowly as he would in a dream. He crouched down and reached out a hand to it, but didn't touch it, afraid that if he did, it would vanish.

This was stupid, he thought. Soonyoung was stupid. How could he even ever risk his life for something as trivial as this instrument? Chan should've stopped him. Chan should have told him that Jihoon would hate him forever if something happened to him just for this.

But why did Jihoon feel so…

(Jihoon almost couldn’t name the emotion for the longest time he'd been trying to suppress it, been trying to forbid himself to feel it… But now that it's here, he knew he shouldn't push it away anymore.

He can't.)

Happy?

"Jihoonie?"

He was in Soonyoung's arms in a heartbeat. He didn't even notice his tears until he realized that the wetness on Soonyoung's shirt wasn't from the other boy's sweat.

"It will slow us down, you know," Jihoon told Soonyoung in a whisper. "It's too big, and bulky. It's useless."

"You can use it to beat up Mingyu," Soonyoung said.

Jihoon laughed. _Oh god_. When was the last time he laughed in this world? When was the last time he allowed  himself to break in someone else's arms like this?

He let himself indulge in the moment and wrapped his arms around Soonyoung.

"I'm not carrying that," Jihoon said.

"I'll carry it for you."

"It doesn't even have fighting value."

"We can use it as last resort weapon. A one hit wonder. Then the wood we can use for fire. The strings can be weapons then. We'd be invincible."

" _Soons_."

Soonyoung laughed at the nickname. It had been ages since Jihoon called him that. He rarely even called Soonyoung that when they were idols. It was reserved for their most secret moments. Their moments of peak happiness.

"Allow yourself to live, Woozi," Soonyoung said. "The world is gone, but you don't have to be gone with it. We need you."

Jihoon looked up into Soonyoung's eyes, those eyes that looked at him the same way the first time they met, with awe and admiration. With confidence. With knowledge that Jihoon will pull them through.

"I love you."

Jihoon wasn't sure which of them said it first, but he knew he was the one pulling Soonyoung down. He was the one trying to make this moment last longer. He was the one was still holding Soonyoung's hand when he first touched the guitar which didn't disappear like he expected it to.

Chan learned to smile again. Seungkwan was belting out high notes, trying to beat Seokmin. Vernon managed to rap a few verses for them, and the rest of the boys tried to remember what their choreography looked life from before the end of the world.

That didn't stop the fighting and the grind to survive. But Jihoon was laughing again. Jihoon was making music again. Jihoon was alive like never before.

With the 12 people around him, and Soonyoung's fingers intertwined with his, he had the whole world.

**Author's Note:**

> A Halloween story before the boys go on their Vlive! I've always wanted to try to write a zombie AU, and it was really interesting to write about my favorite boys. Not sure if I want to expand this universe, although that would sound really fun. Happy Halloween! :>
> 
> (And yeah. I really couldn't think of any good title for this fic... so I had to use an NCT song as a title hehe. Most NCT song titles are story-worthy titles, anyway. But if you think of a better title, do tell me! Thank you!
> 
> EDIT: I CAN'T BELIEVE JEONGHAN WAS A ZOMBIE IN THEIR HALLOWEEN VLIVE AAAAAAAAAAAA


End file.
